The start
of the 2010 racing season is scheduled to start in about two weeks so it’s
that time again as we have fun with the annual predictions for the upcoming
racing season.
As we say every year, many factors can play into a team’s run at a title
but barring anything out of the ordinary, we feel the following
drivers/teams will bring home respective championships at the end of the
2010 season.
WILLIAMS GROVE--Greg Hodnett did just about everything last season at the
Grove except win the driver track championship. While his car owners Jim and
Sandy Kline won the owner title last year, Hodnett will make it a perfect
championship run in 2010 as he will bring home his first career Grove title
and move into the top five on the tracks all time win list in just about ten
full seasons at the track.
Over on the 358 Sprint car side, word has it that Pat Cannon will see more
action in the 358 Series on Friday night now thanks for the increased point
fund for the Central PA 358 Sprint Series so we’ll go with Cannon and the
Highlands team to bring home the Grove title. Should Cannon and company
decide not to chase Grove points and concentrate on the 410, we’ll take TJ
Stutts and new car owner John Westbrook as our backup plan.
The popular Saturday Night Series will be back again and after being
dethroned last season, Frankie Herr will return to the top of the Super
Sportsman ranks again this year while Gene Knaub continues to be the man to
beat in the 358 late models and we’ll take Doug Hoffman to earn a first
career street stock championship trophy at the Grove.
LINCOLN--He’s been shut out for several years now but look for the return of
Fast Freddie Rahmer to bring home his 11th career track championship in the
Pigeon Hills and will continue to add to his track all-time leading win
list.
The 358 Sprints at Lincoln is always a tough one but look for Bill Dietrich
to have a consistent season and return to the top of the division again.
On the thundercar side, Duane Watson makes it two straight.
PORT ROYAL--With Todd Shaffer supposedly not racing for points and Greg
Hodnett will likely miss a night or two, we’ll look for Mike Erdley to
improve on his second place ranking in 2009 to bring home a second career
410 Sprint track title. Erdley will win a race or two and consistency brings
it home.
We’re not sure if Scott Haus will be a regular at the Port so we will take
Mitch Hack to have some good luck for once and win the late model title and
Tim Krape returns to the top in pro stock competition.
SELINSGROVE--Pat Cannon is as good as anyone at the Snyder County oval and
will be tough to beat for the 358 Sprint car championship this season. So
barring any crazy stuff happening, Cannon will walk away with another
championship ring.
Jeff Rine is always hard to beat and as long as he competes there weekly,
he brings home yet another late model title while Jason Smith repeats in
Selinsgrove pro stock action.
HAGERSTOWN--Last season’s late model championship came down to a one point
difference between champion Roy Deese and runner-up Frankie Plessinger. Does
one of those guys win the title this year, I don’t think so. We’ll go with
Jim Yoder to claim his first title at the Maryland oval.
Ashley Barrett will get some good fortune in 2010 and that will be enough
to put him on top of the late model sportsman ranks at the Hub City oval.
SUSQUEHANNA--Justin Ehrhart came close last season and he will jump another
spot to secure his first career 358 late model championship at SSP this
season.
TRAILWAY--After a rough season in 2009 at Trail-Way, Jeff Rohrbaugh will
take home the 358 sprint car title at the Hanover facility this season.
URC SPRINTS--The Jersey Jet, JJ Grasso was nearly unstoppable last season
with URC in his first season aboard the Palladino Motorsports machine. 2010
will be no different on the tour as Grasso once again will be at the head
table when banquet time comes around next December.
WORLD OF OUTLAWS--It’s been all Donny Schatz for the past four seasons with
the WoO Sprint series. But this year, Schatz has a new teammate and a pretty
good one at that. How about “The King of the Outlaws” Steve Kinser returning
to the top of the mountain with another World of Outlaws championship in
2010.
ALL STAR SPRINTS--Tim Shaffer won this series hands down a year ago and 2010
will be an easy repeat for Shaffer and the Call/Holbrook owned team.
WORLD OF OUTLAWS LATE MODELS--If Josh Richards runs fulltime with the tour
he will be tough but I think Darrell Lanigan challenges for the title and
wins it in a close one at Charlotte in November.
. So there you go. We’ll check back at the end of the season to see just how
good we did!
DARRAH ON INJURED LIST
Two of our wishes for the new racing season was for a safe one and for a
good year for Cody Darrah in his rookie World of Outlaws tour.
Unfortunately, both took an ugly turn for the worse last Saturday when
Darrah, along with his father Joe, were involved in a highway accident near
Daytona Beach, Florida as they were heading to Daytona to watch Darrah’s car
owner Kasey Kahne qualify for the Daytona 500. They were hit head on by an
oncoming car at an intersection as the other car attempted to make a left
hand turn.
Cody suffered a fractured leg in the accident while Joe received facial
lacerations and was released from the hospital on Saturday night.
Darrah underwent his first surgery on Tuesday morning where his leg was
fitted with external hardware to stabilize his leg while swelling and
blisters heal.
He will then undergo several more surgeries to repair his tibia, knee and
ligaments in two to three weeks and then will face a long rehabilitation to
return to normal.
“My tibia is shattered and my knee is messed up too so it’s a lot worse
than we originally thought” said Darrah from his Carolinas Medical Center
room Tuesday morning. “They will take bone from my hip to redo my joint and
leg and put a plate in it when they do the surgery in a couple of weeks. But
right now I just have to keep my leg elevated to bring down the swelling so
we can move on.”
Darrah was slated to make his WoO debut Saturday night in the Great Clips
No. 91 sprint car.
“I had such a great opportunity this year and now I’m laying here looking
out the window of the hospital,” he said. “I’m gonna keep a positive
attitude and make a complete recovery and return to the track when I am able
to.”
There is no time frame on how long Darrah will be on the sidelines and as
of Tuesday night, Kahne had not named a replacement driver for the car.
PIT STOPS
Craig Dollansky and Joey Saldana were winners last week with the All Star
Circuit of Champions at Volusia Speedway Park while Donny Schatz and Steve
Kinser split World of Outlaws events at VSP. Local drivers in the top 10 in
those events were Stevie Smith fifth, Lucas Wolfe sixth, Daryn Pittman
seventh and Lance Dewease ninth on Wednesday at VSP. Wolfe (4th) and Smith
(6th) on Thursday with the All Stars while Wolfe was seventh (started 22nd)
and Mark Smith 10th with the Outlaws on Saturday night. No locals were in
the top 10 on Sunday night.
The All Stars wrap up their Winternationals in Florida with Thursday,
Friday and Saturday action at East Bay Raceway Park.
We were remiss to mention last week that while the top two finishing spots
for the 410 sprints were increased, spots 15 through 24 have also been
increased by a total of $110 for the 10 spots. It will now pay $315 to start
the feature on a regular show. Fifteenth spot now pays $330 compared to $320
a year ago.
